evoke

[ ih-vohk ]

verb (used with object)

, e·voked, e·vok·ing.

1. to call up or produce (memories, feelings, etc.):

   to evoke a memory.

2. to elicit or draw forth:

   His comment evoked protests from the shocked listeners.

3. to call up; cause to appear; summon:

   to evoke a spirit from the dead.

4. to produce or suggest through artistry and imagination a vivid impression of reality:

   a short passage that manages to evoke the smells, colors, sounds, and shapes of that metropolis.

evoke

/ ˈɛvəkəbəl; ɪˈvəʊk /

verb

1. to call or summon up (a memory, feeling, etc), esp from the past
2. to call forth or provoke; produce; elicit

   his words evoked an angry reply

3. to cause (spirits) to appear; conjure up

Usage

See evince invoke

Derived Forms

• evocable, adjective
• eˈvoker, noun

Other Words From

• e·voker noun
• une·voked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of evoke¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ēvocāre, from ē- e- ¹ + vocāre “to call” (akin to vōx voice )

Word History and Origins

Origin of evoke¹

C17: from Latin ēvocāre to call forth, from vocāre to call

Example Sentences

“Could I evoke the beauty of that vantage point with the care of the nature writer?” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

He double-tracked Gore's voice, adding little flourishes of brass and unexpected chord changes that perfectly evoke the song's adolescent angst.

From BBC

The museum opens with a walk through the gardens — more specifically, Camila Falsini’s “D.R.E.A.M.S.,” a series of oversized inflatable shapes, symbols and igloos meant to evoke a dreamlike city inspired by Pop art and the Memphis Group.

From Los Angeles Times

In fact, “Hyperstellar,” from Hyperstudio with Quiet Ensemble and Roman Hill, is meant to evoke musings about the cosmos, with the surrounding walls wrapped with LED screens broadcasting 360-degree views of exploding water droplets and air bubbles.

From Los Angeles Times

Bettina Brendel, whose mammoth, six-panel 1969 painting “Particles or Waves?” gave the show its title, attempts with mixed success to evoke the foundational duality’s puzzling contradictions, laying out a sequence of crosshatch marks, jagged stripes and swollen curves.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• arouse
• conjure
• elicit
• invoke
• provoke
• recall